AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT: In-Depth Review

For the last couple of generations, AMD has been striving to compete with Nvidia at the high end. However, with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT, Team Red has shifted its focus away from the ultra-high-end RTX 5090, aiming instead to deliver the best graphics card for the majority of gamers—a goal it undoubtedly achieves.

Priced at $599, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT not only goes head-to-head with the $749 GeForce RTX 5070 Ti but outperforms it, making it one of the top GPUs on the market. AMD enhances the value further with the introduction of FSR 4, marking the first time AI upscaling is featured on an AMD graphics card. This makes the Radeon RX 9070 XT the prime choice for 4K gaming, especially for those unwilling to spend $1,999 on the RTX 5090.

Purchasing Guide

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT will be available starting March 6, with a starting price of $599. However, be aware that prices may vary, as third-party cards could be priced higher. Aim to purchase one for under $699 if possible.

AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT – Photos

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Specs and Features

Built on the RDNA 4 architecture, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT showcases significant enhancements in its shader cores, but the real highlights are the new RT and AI Accelerators. The AI Accelerators are key to the introduction of FidelityFX Super Resolution 4 (FSR 4), bringing AI upscaling to AMD graphics cards for the first time. While FSR 4 may not boost framerates over the older FSR 3.1, it significantly enhances image quality. For those prioritizing framerates, the Adrenalin software offers a toggle to disable FSR 4.

AMD's improvements to the shader cores boost performance per core. Despite the Radeon RX 9070 XT having fewer Compute Units (64) than the previous-generation Radeon RX 7900 XT (84), it achieves a notable generational leap at a lower launch price. Each Compute Unit contains 64 Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs), totaling 4,096, along with 64 ray accelerators and 128 AI accelerators.

However, the RX 9070 XT has less memory than its predecessor, with 16GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus compared to 20GB on a 320-bit bus. This reduction impacts both capacity and bandwidth but remains sufficient for most 4K gaming scenarios. The continued use of GDDR6, despite the downgrade, is a missed opportunity for improvement.

While the new architecture is more efficient, the RX 9070 XT requires a slightly higher power budget of 304W compared to the 7900 XT's 300W. Testing showed the 7900 XT consuming more power, peaking at 314W, while the 9070 XT peaked at 306W. The RX 9070 XT's power consumption remains manageable for modern cooling solutions.

Unlike previous generations, AMD has not released a reference design for the Radeon RX 9070 XT, leaving third-party manufacturers to produce the GPU. The Powercolor Radeon RX 9070 XT Reaper, with its compact triple-fan design, effectively maintained a temperature of 72°C during testing.

The RX 9070 XT uses standard power connectors, requiring two 8-pin PCI-E connectors without any meltable adapters, making it an easy upgrade for most users with a recommended 700W power supply. It features three DisplayPort 2.1a and one HDMI 2.1b, though the absence of a USB-C port is a notable omission for added flexibility.

FSR 4

For years, AMD has sought an AI upscaling solution to rival DLSS. While earlier versions of FidelityFX Super Resolution offered strong performance, they were marred by ghosting and fuzziness. The Radeon RX 9070 XT addresses these issues with the introduction of FSR 4, an AI-powered upscaling technology.

Similar to DLSS, FSR 4 uses AI accelerators to analyze previous frames and game engine data to upscale lower-resolution images to native resolution. While FSR 4 improves image quality over FSR 3's temporal upscaling, it incurs a performance cost. In Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 at 4K with Extreme settings, using FSR 3.1 in Performance mode yielded 134 fps, dropping to 121 fps with FSR 4—a 10% performance loss but with enhanced image quality, particularly in elements like grass and in-game text. Similarly, in Monster Hunter Wilds at 4K with max settings and ray tracing, the 9070 XT achieved 94 fps with FSR 3, dropping to 78 fps with FSR 4—a 20% performance drop.

Despite the performance hit, AMD expects the improved image quality to appeal to gamers focused on visual fidelity, particularly in single-player games. Fortunately, FSR 3.1 remains available, and FSR 4 can be toggled off in the Adrenalin software, a feature that was off by default in my review sample due to early drivers.

AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT & 9070 – Benchmarks

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Performance

The Radeon RX 9070 XT from AMD delivers impressive performance at a competitive price point. Priced at $599, it undercuts the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti by 21% while being, on average, 2% faster. Although the RTX 5070 Ti may outperform the RX 9070 XT in some games, their close competition is a significant achievement for AMD.

Across my testing, the RX 9070 XT proved to be 17% faster than the RX 7900 XT, which launched at $899 two years ago, and 2% faster than the RTX 5070 Ti. It particularly excels at 4K, maintaining its lead and positioning itself as an entry-level 4K graphics card, even with ray tracing enabled.

All tests were conducted using the latest available drivers. Nvidia cards utilized Game Ready Driver 572.60, except for the RTX 5070, which used review drivers. AMD cards were tested with Adrenalin 24.12.1, with the Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 using pre-release drivers provided by AMD.

While 3DMark does not reflect real-world gameplay, it provides insight into a graphics card's potential. The 9070 XT outperformed the 7900 XT by 18% in Speed Way but lagged 18% behind the RTX 5070 Ti. In Steel Nomad, the performance gap widened, with the 9070 XT achieving a 26% increase over the 7900 XT and beating the RTX 5070 Ti by 7%.

Test System

In Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, the Radeon RX 9070 XT outpaces the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti by 15%, though the game tends to favor AMD hardware, with the RX 7900 XT only 6% behind the new card.

Cyberpunk 2077 traditionally favors Nvidia cards, and the RTX 5070 Ti achieves 75 fps at 4K with Ray Tracing Ultra and DLSS in performance mode, compared to the RX 9070 XT's 71 fps with FSR 3—a minimal 5% difference despite the significant price gap.

In Metro Exodus at 4K without upscaling, the Radeon RX 9070 XT manages 47 fps, closely matching the RTX 5070 Ti's 48 fps, while the last-generation RX 7900 XT lags at 38 fps, marking a 24% improvement.

Red Dead Redemption 2, a Vulkan showcase, sees the RX 9070 XT achieving 125 fps with all settings maxed, outperforming the RTX 5070 Ti's 110 fps and the RX 7900 XT's 106 fps.

However, the RX 9070 XT falls 13% behind the RTX 5070 Ti in Total War: Warhammer 3, with 76 fps compared to the 7900 XT's 71 fps.

Assassin's Creed Mirage sees the RX 9070 XT reclaiming performance, with 163 fps beating the RTX 5070 Ti's 146 fps by 12% and the RX 7900 XT's 150 fps by 9%.

In Black Myth Wukong at 4K with the Cinematic Preset and FSR set to 40%, the RX 9070 XT achieves 70 fps, outperforming the RTX 5070 Ti's 65 fps by 8%, and the RX 7900 XT's 60 fps, highlighting the advancements in ray tracing performance over RDNA 3.

Forza Horizon 5 sees the RX 9070 XT slightly ahead with 158 fps compared to the RTX 5070 Ti's 151 fps, a 5% improvement.

Announced quietly at CES 2025, the Radeon RX 9070 XT feels like AMD's strategic move against Nvidia's Blackwell graphics cards. At $599, it represents a return to reasonable pricing in the graphics card market. While it may not match the raw power of the RTX 5080 or RTX 5090, it offers a compelling value for most gamers, being at least $400 less expensive.

The last great flagship graphics card many remember was the GTX 1080 Ti, which launched at $699 in 2017. The RX 9070 XT may not claim the title of the fastest consumer card, but it feels like the first worthy flagship since then, delivering exceptional performance and value to gamers.